


Looking for meth in all the wrong places

by orphan_account



Category: no pixel
Genre: + Assorted HOA members, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Methamphetamine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29821329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Maybe the real meth was the friends we made along the way.Siz and Saab are looking for a meth lab with no solid leads, luckily dates are a pretty good cover story for why they're suddenly spending so much time together.
Relationships: Siz Fulker/Al Saab, Siz Fulker/Griselda "Zelda" Harth
Kudos: 3





	Looking for meth in all the wrong places

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've ever written, and I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone to help me edit it, so I apologise in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes and general unpolished-ness. It's also much longer than I anticipated but I guess thats life.
> 
> Thank you for reading 💘

“Siz who the fuck even is this guy, seriously? He just showed up at your tavern a couple times and then offered you a meth connect?” Saab said, keeping his gun trained on their hostage. 

“Yeah, I don't know! He said it's because I talked about how I used to be a coke kingpin.”

“You're just telling people that now?”

“No one believes me!”

“Well, what are we gonna do with him? He obviously knows more than he's letting on…”  
“Can I see that key you were talking about for a second, bros? Maybe it'll jog my memory.” The man called from where he was standing facing the wall. 

Cautiously, gun still pointed at him, Siz and Saab walked back over to him. Siz handed him the key. The man took off running and didn't make it 20 feet before he was on the ground, shot down by Saab. 

“Great. Now we've got a key labeled Optimus Prime, a dead body, and probably a shots fired call with cops arriving any minute,” Siz shook his head. 

“Hurry up and load him into the trunk we gotta get the fuck outta here,” Saab said, hurrying to the driver’s seat of their stolen car. 

“You wanna take him?”

“Yes, hurry! My casings are everywhere so I gotta ditch the gun too.”

Siz shoved VIP in the trunk and they sped off. They're lucky that Harmony is a pretty unassuming place so unlikely anyone saw them come or go, but someone almost certainly called in the gunshots and there was blood everywhere. Sirens in the distance unsettled them, but they got to the ocean unobstructed.

Saab put his gun in the glove box, and sent the car off the Great Ocean highway bridge, jumping out at the last second, while Siz was hotwiring another car. Saab made it back up from where he'd jumped out of the car and got into the passenger seat. 

“That key must be important if he was willing to die for it.”

“Yeah, I think it must be to a lab or something, I mean, in his trunk he only had the key and an uncured batch of meth so what else could it be… but Optimus Prime could mean anything,” Siz said focused on driving. 

“What did he say exactly?”

“He said that the 10 baggies he gave me were for testing the market, and that he'd have more for me tomorrow.”

“Oh so we probably should’ve waited to kill him then, huh?” Saab laughed.

“Yeah probably,” Siz said with a chuckle, “We should probably just hang out somewhere and brainstorm ideas to check… What do you think?”

“How about your tavern?”

“Nah no good, the HoA’ll be there and you know how nosy they are.”

“Yeah for sure… Are you not gonna tell them?”

“Are you kidding? No way, I don't trust those guys with something like this!” Siz laughed. “For now, at least, I want this to just be a me and you thing.”

“Well… thank you for trusting me.”

“Yeah yeah, anyways, how about we drive down to Lean Street?”

“Sounds good Sizzyboo.”

They continued towards the south side, passing back through Harmony on the way to Palomino. As they were driving, a trooper patrol car sped past them in the direction they were coming from. Siz attempted to slow down and drive normal but the car quickly U--turned and pulled up behind them. Siz and Saab both began to silently panic and Saab quietly put on his burgershot mask as Siz pulled over. 

“Jesus, do you know how fast you were going?” Trooper Soze asked as he approached the window. 

“No sir, I’m sorry,” Siz replied.

“Uh huh alright, well out of curiosity, where ya comin’ from?” he asked, making a note on a pad. 

“The store, we were getting sandwiches,” Siz replied, pretending he wasn’t panicking. Saab was staying silent in the passenger seat. Some chatter came over Soze’s radio, and he stepped away for a moment to answer it. They watched him speak for a moment before he got back in his car and drove up next to them. 

“Slow it down next time assholes, or it'll be a ticket,” he called as he drove off towards the ocean. Siz and Saab sat quietly for a moment before letting out their internal panic. 

“Hoooly shit Siz that was too close we gotta get out of here.”

“I know, I know, Jesus, let's go.” Siz said still on edge. He peeled off towards Lean Street. 

Siz parked the car in front of Saab's old house and looked over at him. “So... Optimus Prime huh?”

“Yeah… What could that mean?” Saab said, already sounding lost. 

“Optimus Prime is a transformer… so maybe by the power stations? He's also a semi so maybe somewhere related to that?”

“He's also red and blue and the letters are OP… Maybe the Post Op by the docks?”

“Nah I don't think it'd be just the letters… We can still check by the docks though. Maybe up by the chicken factory in paleto? Lots of semis used to come from there.”

“We can definitely check and stop by the power stations on the way, though I don't think there'd be a meth lab inside any of ‘em since they're government property and regularly staffed”

“Yeah good call, let's check docks first and then head up, you drive though,” Siz said, getting out of the car. They swapped seats and took off towards the docks. 

-

Siz sighed, exhausted having covered just about every inch of Grapeseed looking for this lab for nothing. It'd been several hours, but he couldn't help hoping they'd find it quicker than this. 

“Talk to me Siz, what are you thinkin?” Saab asked.

“This is all starting to remind me of the amazing race, I'm waiting for the morse code” Siz joked.

“Oh no! No more morse code,” Saab laughed.

“It's just frustrating I mean we have so little to go off of… Optimus Prime…” Siz frowned.

“Let's take a break then! Let's talk about the plan when we find it.”

“Let's go fishing and talk, we should have a fair amount of privacy on the ocean.”

Siz’s phone rang, it was Kleb. “Hey OG what're you up to? No one’s seen you in a couple hours.”

“Just driving around with Saab, we might go fishing soon.”

“Oh, well, I'm just driving around with Julio, maybe we could join you?”

“No. No, sorry, it's… private.”

“Oh? What do you mean? You don't wanna hang with us?” Kleb sounded disappointed

“No it's just we're… on a date,” Siz even seemed surprised he'd said it. 

“Ohhh I see how it is,” Kleb laughed “You two have--” Siz hung up before he could hear the end of Kleb’s sentence. 

“Ohoho a date, huh?” Saab said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“Shut up… I just wanted them to leave us alone.”

“Y’know I’d be happy to go on a date with you, Sizzyboo, if you'd ask,” Saab smiled.

“Shut up, just go to the marina,” Siz said, embarrassed. 

Of course Julio and Kleb were waiting at the marina. They were way too excited to make fun of Siz for this. 

“So we can come with you right” Julio asked, “or is this really a date?”

“No we’re just… hanging out!”

“Great then we can come!” Kleb said, climbing into the boat Saab was attempting to rent. 

“You really wanna third wheel that bad?” Siz sighed. 

“So it is a date?” Julio asked, trying to tease Siz into admitting it. 

“Just fuck off!!” Siz shouted shoving Kleb out of the boat. The two laughed and went to rent their own boat nearby. Saab climbed onto the boat with Siz who immediately took off into the ocean hoping to get as much distance from the other two as possible. He dropped the anchor on the outskirts of the fishing spot, figuring it'd give the two of them the best chance at privacy. 

“Ok,” Siz said getting into position to fish, “I think they'll probably leave us alone.”

“So talk to me Siz, what do you think we should do if we get the lab?”

“I just want to be a cook, not a kingpin… I think you and I should be cooks and if we have to we can bring more people in for protection.”

“Yeah ok I like that… Who are you thinking?”

“Maybe Flippy? Who do you think would be good?”

“Denzel we both trust really well and I think he'd be good,” Saab said and Siz nodded, “I know things are kinda weird between you but what about Buddha?”

“No way, I barely know him! Maybe eventually, but for now there's no way for me to trust him because he doesn't trust me.”

“Ok yeah that's fair but Denzel's good. But for now you wanna hope it can stay a two man operation?”

“Yeah I think we should try to do as much as we can between us and then if we need to we can reach out to muscle and distributors.”

“Yeah I think Denzel would be great for both of those things, he's already got several people that he works with that would be great.”

“Ok sounds good,” Siz noticed from across the fishing area that Julio had out a pair of binoculars pointed at them and Siz hastily turned away. 

“Alright I think that's enough fish, let's just turn in and go home.”

“Oh, you sure?”

“Yeah let's just go” Siz said hurrying back into the driver's seat. He sailed off not turning to look at Julio, but knowing he was still watching them. 

“Sooo, how was your date with Mr. Saab?'' Julio asked, striding into the tavern. Siz was caught off guard, having just been reading through the receipts for the day. 

“It was fine… good,” he hesitantly replied.

"So it was a date for real? Wow, we knew Saab was always mackin’ but we didn't think you'd ever actually go out with him," Julio laughed.

“Yeah… it's… not something I saw myself doing either, but what can I say,” Siz responded hesitantly.

“I’m happy for you OG, have you told Zelda?” he pressed further. 

“She… knows. I've told her. She's fine with it!” Siz said unconvincingly. It's true Zelda did know about Saab's feelings for Siz, as did everyone, but he doesn't know how cool she'd be if she heard about actual dates. 

“That's good I'm glad you talked to her about it, good luck to you then.” said Julio, turning around with a smile, clearly not believing a word Siz said. 

Siz figured it didn't matter because the dates weren't real, but there was always the concern that she would hear about it from someone else. Better to have a conversation about nothing than to have this blow up in his face, and he was planning to tell her about the meth key anyways so might as well kill two birds with one stone. 

Siz knocked on the door to Zelda's apartment. It was pretty late by now and in the seedier part of town, but he had a good relationship with the gang in this area. He waited a few minutes but no answer. He tried her brother's apartment down the street hoping maybe she was over there working on something, but he didn't get a response there either. He didn't even notice any of the security cams surreptitiously turning to face him. After a few minutes, he gave up and went home for the night, saving the conversation for a later time. 

-

The next day, as Siz was just leaving to check on the tavern before it opened that afternoon, he got a call from Saab. 

“Hey Siz, what are you up to?”

“Not much I'm just kinda gettin out of the house, why? Did you wanna meet up?”

“Yeah! I figure we should get a move on looking for Optimus Prime y'know, I was thinking maybe we could get some coffee and head out? I got a couple spots I was thinking of.”

“Yeah sounds good, I'm by the tavern if you wanna come pick me up in a few.”

“Cool see ya later Sizzyboo, I love you,” Saab cooed. There was a long pause, “I won’t hang up until you say it back.” 

Siz hung up the phone without answering. He arrived to the tavern and let himself in, where he saw Ant behind the counter going over something with Dante. 

“Hey guys.”

“Hey Siz,” “Hey boss,” They said at the same time. 

“What are you looking over?” Siz asked.

“I was just talking to Ant about which drinks are most popular so she can relay to the boys which fruits to buy when I'm not around,” Dante replied, gesturing with his clipboard.

“Ok sounds good, I'm gonna be out with Saab probably all day, so whatever that comes out to just send it in the group chat so I can make sure I'm getting the right stuff.”

“Oh you're gonna be with Saab all day? I was hoping we could have, like, an HoA hunting trip later,” Ant said sounding kinda disappointed. 

“If I have time I'd definitely be down, but I'm probably gonna be busy.”

“Yeah I get it,” she said with a laugh, “you like hanging out with Saab more than us.”

“It's not that, we just have plans already,” Siz hoped he wasn't about to have to deal with the HoA hounding him for disappearing again. 

“Yeah I know dummy I'm just joking, enjoy your date,” she said with a wink. Siz avoided her eyes.

The sound of a car pulling up made the three of them look up and they watched Saab knock on the glass of the locked door. Siz shook his head at the goofy behavior and unlocked it. Saab started to walk in, but Siz just pushed him out and turned around to call back to Ant and Dante, “I'll see you guys later if we get done in time.” He hurried out the door before they could misinterpret that.

“What was that about?” Saab asked with a laugh.

“Nothin’ I just figured we should get a move on like you said, the longer we take to find this lab the more likely they change the locks.”

“True… but you seemed pretty hurried to get out of that conversation in particular,” Saab said knowingly. Typical, for such an oblivious guy he can be surprisingly observant sometimes. 

“I think Julio and Kleb told everyone about our ‘date’ yesterday and I'm not really sure what to say to them about it.”

“Well it's the perfect cover, right? It's an excuse to hang out one on one pretty often and they probably won't pry too much.”

“Won't pry? Have you met the HoA?” Siz laughed, “Anyways I'm more worried that they'll tell Zelda before I can explain to her what's going on, I don't want her to stab you or anything.”

“Aww Sizzyboo that's so sweet! I've talked to Zelda before and she's very understanding of our relationship, I don't think she'll mind.”

“This is not a relationship this is a cover for cooking meth, and I would still prefer to talk to her about it,” Siz said shaking his head. Saab laughed as he pulled into the Rooster’s Rest parking lot. 

“Wait why are we here? I thought you were gonna go to Burgershot so we could use your employee discount?” Siz questioned Saab, eyeing up the competitions’ building. 

“I work here too, and the coffee’s much better,” Saab said with an easy smile, getting out of the car and walking towards the building. 

“I shoulda guessed, you work everywhere,” Siz joked, getting out of the car and trailing behind. 

“What do you like in your coffee?” Saab asked, going behind the counter.

“Cream and 3 sugars?” Siz said. While Saab grabbed the coffees behind the counter, Siz noticed he didn't see Buddha around anywhere. Probably for the better, things had been tense between them since they met. Siz couldn't help glaring at the employees though, they were the enemy after all, with their huge building, and fancy foods, and hotel rooms, and huge building. Saab nudged Siz to get his attention and handed him a cup, knocking him out of a particularly intense stare down of an intimidated looking employee. Saab led Siz back out the door to his car, laughing at the exchange. 

“Honestly, Siz, I don't know why you even think of them as competition. Your tavern and Rooster’s Rest are completely different!” 

“They sell the same drinks as us! And who wouldn't prefer a big open area with nice, huge rooms, each bigger than the whole tavern! It's so crowded at the tavern, we had to remove stools just to fit CDC guidelines!”

“Yeah… but it's… homey! It's cozy! There're some people that would prefer the tavern, I'm sure,” there's a brief pause as Siz levels a wry look at Saab. “Y'know I'm sure you and Buddha could rebuild your relationship if you just talk to each other, you just started off on the wrong foot.”

“He's just so aggro and I wouldn't even know what to say to him to start, I'm fine just avoiding him for now and hoping his friends that know me can help him see I'm not just some freak who thought I knew him from somewhere.” 

“We’ll work on it! He knows me, Tony, Denzel, and Nino all trust you, he'll see soon!”

“Yeah whatever I wouldn't hold my breath, anyways, what were you thinking in terms of Optimus Prime?” 

“Right, so I'm thinking there has to be some connection to semis and I've been noticing a lot of talk about shipping containers lately, like you know the Boss?”

“Yeah I guess? He's the guy in charge of robbing houses right?”

“Exactly. When people first found him, he was set up inside a shipping container down by the old LB warehouse.”

“So you think it'll be inside a shipping container like that? There's so many in the city though, that's not much to go off of.” 

“Yeah well I was talking to my boys last night and they mentioned finding a weird shipping container up north. It looked mostly normal on the outside, but there was a table inside that slid aside to reveal a ladder down to a locked door, it sounds like it could be it.”

“Let's go check it out, for sure, but just being a shipping container isn't much of a connection. Who knows though maybe we'll get lucky.” 

If ever there was a place that screamed secret meth lab this would be it. The location is great, it's in Sandy Shores away from prying eyes, there's ample cover and places for muscle to watch from while also having no other buildings around for people to get high ground. Siz did notice however that, aside from the shipping container itself, there was basically nothing to do with Optimus Prime here. Still Siz really hoped this was the place. Sure enough just as Saab said, when the pair approached the workbench inside the shipping container it slid out of place to reveal a ladder into some kind of underground bunker. They climbed down the ladder quietly, unsure if there would be anyone inside who could hear them. As quietly as they could, they checked the door’s lock. It seemed to be roughly the same kind as would accept the Optimus Prime key, but without it to test there would be know way to know for sure. They climbed back outside and slid the workbench back into place. 

“What do you think? It's definitely something either way…” Saab said as they walked back to their car. 

“I'm not sure… Nothing here really screams Optimus Prime to me, but we should test the key just in case because you're right this is definitely something,” Siz said thoughtfully.

“Yeah sounds good, it's at your apartment right?” Siz nodded in response. “By the way, Siz, you look really cute today,” Saab said smiling. 

“Oh thank you” Siz said, rolling his eyes a bit, but still sounding like he meant it. 

As they were heading down to the apartments to get the key, Saab got a call on his phone. He slowed down a bit and hesitated to answer, but after a couple rings he answered.

“Hey Buddha, what’s up?” he said. “I’m a bit busy right now otherwise I totally would. Yeah I know, I’m sorry, but I’m really busy.” He listened for a moment. Siz couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end of the conversation, but it sounded like Buddha was asking a lot of questions. 

“I can’t tell you what I’m doing right now, but it’s not a big deal, listen I promise I’ll tell you as soon as I can.” Another pause, “Yeah I’ll see you at the Rooster later, good luck, bye.” Saab said, finally hanging up. 

Siz waited a moment before asking about the phone call. “How’s Buddha doing?” he asked as nonchalantly as possible. 

“He’s fine, he and the boys are about to attempt to hit a Fleeca so they were inviting me to come.”

“He asked you what you were doing?” Siz asked despite knowing the answer.

“Yeah, but I didn’t tell him. I told him I’d tell him when I could, but that I can't right now.” 

“Why would you tell him you’d tell him later, this is supposed to stay between you and me.” Siz said, looking at Saab.

“Well… Maybe we could involve the boys in, like, distribution or something later. I’m sorry Siz, I’m just not very good at keeping secrets, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know Saab, I’m not mad. It’s just… difficult because I have to trust you 100% with this, but I know that you would turn on me if Buddha asked you to.” Siz knew that came off harsh, but it was true. Saab seemed taken aback by the heavy statement. 

There was a brief silence before he defended, “C’mon Siz, you know I appreciate you inviting me to do this with you. I wouldn’t sell you out like that, I love you.” 

“I don’t mean for it to sound so harsh, but I know how Buddha and family is number one to you, and I’m not that… It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just know that for however much you say you love me I’m not the top of your list… Which is fine, I get it, but it’s hard when your number one doesnt like me.” Siz said, unsure of how to pull his thoughts together. Saab seemed hurt; another silence fell over the car. 

“I promise I won’t tell Buddha anything to compromise this operation until you give me the go-ahead. It’s not like they don’t keep secrets from me sometimes, it shouldn’t be a big deal. And I really do love you Siz, but you’re right, family does come first.” Saab said quietly, just before they got to the apartments. Siz didn’t respond. They parked and each went into their apartments, silently agreeing to put off testing the key to the next day. Siz hoped it wouldn’t be awkward but hoped maybe Saab would really think through what he wants to do with all this. 

-

By mid afternoon, when Saab still hadn't called, Siz took it as a hint to call him. He guessed that Saab might've been busy in the morning, but as time kept on he worried he might still be upset about what Siz said. He picked up on the third ring.

“Hey cutie what's up?” Saab said surprisingly normally. 

“Uh, not much I just figured I'd see what you were up to since you didn't call me this morning. I was figuring we would try the key today?”

“Yeah sounds good! Pick me up by the Rooster, ok?”

“Yeah alright, be there in a few,” Siz was surprised at how normal Saab had sounded in their conversation, but decided not to dwell much on it, figuring it was better this way anyways. Saab was a lovable goof he didn’t generally take things too much to heart. 

Siz pulled into the Rooster’s parking lot up to where Saab was standing, balancing two coffees and a small paper bag like you'd get in a bakery. He climbed into the car and offered one of the coffees to Siz. 

“Oh thanks, what's in the bag?” Siz said, accepting the drink and giving it a sniff. He cautiously took a sip and found it exactly as he liked it. 

“I picked us out some churros leftover from breakfast,” Saab said, tipping the bag towards Siz. Siz accepted one and hurried to eat it before getting on the road to Sandy. 

“Hey, um, how come you didn't call me this morning? Were you in a meeting or something?” Siz asked, trying his best not to sound worried Saab was still upset. 

“I was at work at PDM, and I figured you get up later than me so I'd just wait for you,” Saab smiled. “Also Siz you look really cute today.”

Siz ignored his last comment instead focused on his excuse. He thought it was pretty flimsy since the only time Siz ever saw Saab at PDM was when he was pulling out a “test drive” for the day. He wasn't sure if Saab was playing off that he had wanted Siz to call him as a way to make up or if he just wanted more attention from Siz in general. Or maybe Saab really was just working and Siz was being paranoid. 

“Ok, just wondering” Siz replied, smiling and trying to hide his suspicions. Quiet settled over the drive again, but it was thankfully not awkward. 

“You have the key, right?” 

“What do you mean? Of course I do! Why would you ask me that now that we're here?” Siz said exasperated.

“I just remembered it” Saab laughed, Siz shook his head and huffed a small laugh. 

They did a lap in the car of the surrounding areas checking that the coast was clear. After deciding it was suitably empty, they both hopped out and hurried inside, wary of passersby.  
Anxiously, Siz and Saab look at each other before Siz tries the key. It doesn't fit. Unsurprising, since nothing in the area was particularly Optimus Prime themed, but a letdown nonetheless. In unison they let the tension out of their shoulders and sigh. 

They climb back out of the container, much less carefully than when they had climbed in. They agreed to put the key back up and made mild conversation on the way back to the apartments. Despite having no clear direction for where to look next, they still made some kind of effort to drive around the city for the day, but they mostly ended up shooting the shit and taking selfies next to weird stuff they found. 

By the evening, they had all but called their search for the day with nothing to show for it but some pictures and a couple cool rocks. Saab was sitting at the bar in the tavern while Siz stood behind it grabbing drinks for them. Siz handed Saab a whiteclaw and walked around to sit at the bar with him, opening his own can of cider. They chatted for a while as more and more HoA started to filter in, until it got a little crowded. Kraytor was behind the bar making drinks. Huck and Kleb were arguing about darts. Manny, Ant, and Kermy were discussing something about taxes on the couch. Saab yawned, seeming more and more tired as time passed. Before calling it, he and Siz slipped out to discuss what to do next time. Julio Fiona and Cheddar were talking out front, so they snuck into the back alley. Trying their best to look like it was a normal conversation and not a secret meeting to avoid nosy fucks trying to listen in. 

Siz leaned against the back wall of a building. “So at this point… What should we even do? Looking around aimlessly hasn't helped and whatever cook was running that place has almost certainly noticed by now so the locks could change any day now.” He sighed. 

“Yeah I know… I'm thinking… Maybe we should just wait a little bit? I know that sounds dumb, but, honestly, I feel like waiting until we hear about a sketchy spot that sounds right might be the play because I don't know what kinda place we should look for.” Saab said pacing. 

“I don't really wanna do that because this time thing is so uncertain, but I think you might be right. It's not like we're the only ones out looking for stuff. Surely word on the street will reach us if someone finds it, and they won't have the key anyways so it's not like someone could take it… The big gamble is the lock still being the same.” Saab turned to face him. There was a sound of a can being kicked in the distance and Saab glanced towards the parking lot.

Suddenly Saab was in Siz’s personal space with his arm propped against the wall next to him. Siz didn't even notice Saab's other hand had come to rest on his cheek, they stared at each other for a few seconds. Siz was still too stunned to react when Saab brushed aside some hair from his face and leaned in and whispered, “Your boys are watching us, don't freak out. If they think we're flirting they'll leave.”

Siz couldn't help the blush that rose to his face even as he whisper-yelled, “That's the worst plan I've ever heard! That'll make them wanna listen more!” He pushed Saab away trying not to be rough and turned around to glare at almost the entire HoA peeking over the fence from the tavern parking lot. They scattered giggling, and he heard Saab laughing behind him. 

“Seriously, you think they'd miss a chance to eavesdrop on macking? No way,” Siz shook his head. 

Saab laughed again, “Well it worked either way,” he swooped in and kissed Siz on the cheek. “Goodnight Sizzyboo, I’ll see ya later, ok? Goodnight!” Saab called as he walked away and hopped the fence back into the parking lot. Siz stood there for a minute, looking around and rubbing at his cheeks before quickly going back to the tavern to yell at everyone for eavesdropping. They laughed at his still lingering blush. 

-

Siz and Saab weren't able to meet up for the next couple days, which worked for their waiting it out plan. Siz had been busy hanging out with the HoA because they missed him and wouldn’t let him leave until he did. Saab was tied up working at his various jobs, mostly Hayes Auto and Ramee’s Gallery. When they finally had a free day to meet up again, they didn't really have many more ideas for lab locations. 

“Optimus Prime…”

“Ugh, I feel like I've heard that name a thousand times in the past week,” Saab groaned, “Do you wanna take some kinda tour of the city? See if something pops out?”

“If it's in a spot visible and well known enough to be on a city tour route, we’re fucked,” Siz shook his head. 

“True… but it might at least help us think of something?”

“I guess, but… Are we even not thinking of anything? Optimus Prime isn't much of a hint, if anything it's just to know which lab it is compared to the others they probably have, it probably wouldn't be obvious,” Siz said tiredly. 

“That's a good point… So then what do we do? Do we just keep waiting?” 

“We could drive around I guess, like you said see if anything pops out… You could show me your favorite police escape spots and I'll show you mine, those are at least secluded so there’s more of a chance something hidden would be there.” Siz offered. 

“Ok that sounds good to me, let's get coffee first,” Saab said. Siz drove to the Rooster’s Rest figuring Saab would want to get coffee there. He moved to the passenger seat while Saab got the drinks inside. He glanced through the HoA group chat on his phone, while he waited. After about five minutes when Saab still wasn’t back, he took to looking at the door wondering where he was. He was about to text him when Saab finally came clumsily through the door holding two coffees and a small bag. He looked a little flustered, but Siz assumed this was because of him struggling to carry everything. Saab got to the car and struggled again with getting the door open while Siz only chuckled at him.

“Here, thanks for the help by the way,” Saab said, pretending to be annoyed.

Unfazed, Siz accepted his cup and smiled at Saab, “Of course, thank you for the drink.” Saab rolled his eyes and smiled but didn’t say anything. “What took ya so long?” Siz said sipping at his coffee.

“Oh nothing just Buddha being Buddha, you know.” Saab said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Saab didn’t have that many trick spots for escaping cops, he tended to prefer fast vehicles that can get away on long straight roads. Alternatively, because of his house in the south side he would often drive through the alleys and jump out, weaving on foot between the houses. He showed Siz the spots regardless, though he’d seen most of them anyways because of the numerous jobs they’d done together. He also drove a bit through the subway tunnels showcasing his knowledge of all the different exits and chokepoints. 

Siz had a collection of spots that he liked to use, mostly borrowed from other people he did jobs with. He drove around Vinewood for a bit, while Saab made fun of him for being a Vinewood-Andy. He showed the construction site that Flippy always went through but made sure to mention that he only ever used this tactic as a meme. He showed a couple random little jumps onto the highway that you could only take in pantos or bikes, and the little path behind Mirror Park that only bikes could fit on. They didn’t have a car suitable for offroading so he didn't show any favored spots for it, just the one path off Great Ocean that he liked to take in the brawler. 

Ultimately, they didn’t find anything useful in the couple hours they spent driving around, but they did their best to check around any spots that had at least two things they thought might reference Optimus Prime. By mid afternoon, they were over just driving around wasting gas, so they chose to just get lunch and hang out without the pretense of looking for the lab. Siz wanted to avoid the HoA boys as he'd told them he'd be out all day and didn't want to give them a chance to bother him for whatever nonsense they were getting up to, he’d still had to deny a few calls through the day though. Saab seemingly wanted to avoid his crew as well so they just got some drive thru Cluckin’ Bell and hung out around the park in Vinewood, figuring it was the least likely to have someone they knew pass by. 

They walked around a little bit until they found a good bench with a view of some trees and a fountain. They settled down and ate, making mild conversation, occasionally throwing fries at each other. Siz appreciated the scenery of the park, again glad they opted for this park that was mostly empty apart from a few dog walkers. There were birds on the ground around the fountain and when Siz and Saab were done eating they gave their leftovers to them. Still not wanting to go back to their respective groups, they decided to spend the rest of the day walking along the park trails. They cleaned up their trash and continued chatting for a bit, wandering around the park watching the dogs running around. When the sun started to set they realised it had been a few hours of that so they went back to their car to go home. They both had things they had to get in order for the next day so they could go out and look again tomorrow. 

Siz dropped Saab off at the Rooster’s Rest. He saw Buddha and the boys standing outside talking to each other, they all had turned towards them when he pulled into the lot. As Saab said goodnight and got out of the car, they began walking towards them so Siz and Saab just waited where they were.

“Saab there you are, where’ve you been all day?” Buddha asked.

“Oh just driving around with Siz,” Saab said uncertainty.

“Driving around with Siz? That's the important business you had that none of us could know about and that we couldn't interrupt all day?” Buddha pressed. Siz now realised Saab’s phone hadn’t rung all day, he had thought nothing of it figuring the boys were on a job or something. 

Saab shook his head, “No listen, it was important ok we had to-”

“You've been hanging out with Siz a lot this past week, keeping secrets too. You said you'd tell me, so don’t lie. What have you really been doing?” Buddha cut him off. The rest of the boys were staying quiet, listening to the barrage of questions. Siz saw that Saab had painted himself into a corner, and although he knew that Saab would sooner turn on him for Buddha than the other way around, it didn't need to come to that. 

“We were on a date.” Siz said making eye contact with Buddha for a moment. Buddha then turned to Saab who glanced at Siz and nodded. 

“Yeah we were on a date, we drove around for a bit and then took a walk at the rich people park in Vinewood.” Saab smiled.

“Why wouldn't you just tell me that? Why are you so cagey about that?” Buddha asked, sounding confused.

“I just… wasn't sure if Siz would want people to know, and I know you don't really like him because he was weird when you first met him, but he's great I promise.” Saab assured.

“Yeah, listen, I don’t really care who you date, Saab, as long as they dont fuck us over,” Buddha said looking at Siz, he then turned with the rest of the boys who were, at this point, laughing quietly at the unnecessary tension and walked back to where they had all been talking before.  
“Thanks for covering for me,” Saab said earnestly.

“No problem, I mean, that was the cover story anyways,” Siz said with a small smile. Saab climbed back into the car for a moment and gave Siz a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Siz assumed it was to further sell the story if anyone was still looking, but he blushed nonetheless. 

“I, um, had fun today… hanging out with you,” Siz said quietly.

Saab beamed, “Of course! I'm always happy to go on a fake date with you! Or a real one if you want,” he added with a wink. Siz rolled his eyes and shook his head, but the effect was somewhat lost because he was still blushing. After Saab got inside, he set off to the tavern figuring he had some fires to put out as always. 

-

Things had actually been running surprisingly smoothly with the HoA that day. Siz got the full recap about Cheddar and Huck collecting human body parts, and Kermy also collecting human body parts separately to make a new Eggroll. There was a brief scare that the police would raid the tavern because of Cheddar, explaining the few calls he did get but it didn't end up happening. The boys were very inquisitive about Siz’s day, but he didn't really explain anything further than he and Saab were hanging out all day, which they knew anyways. 

As it started getting later, Siz noticed the light on inside the Digital Den, reminding him he had never gotten a chance to talk to Zelda about everything that was going on. Siz left the tavern pretty quickly, telling everyone he was going to see his girlfriend, reminding several members of the HoA that he even had one. He was out the door and crossing the street before anyone could say anything. 

When he got to the Den, he knocked on the locked door. The front room was pretty dark as it was well past opening hours, but he could see light coming from the hallway under the black curtain separating the storefront. After a bit of waiting, Jacob came out and unlocked the door.  
“Hello,” he said in that weird way he always does.

“Hey Mr. J,” Siz said smiling, “Have you seen your sister around lately? It’s been a while, and I need to talk to her.”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her today. I suppose you might find her in her apartment on Forum, I believe she’s been working on something in there.” 

“Ok I'll check there. I tried the other day, but she didn’t answer,” Siz said thoughtfully, “if you see her give me a call ok?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks Mr. J,” Siz said, waving goodbye. “Always good to talk to you!”

“You as well. Goodbye.” Jacob said, closing and relocking the door.

Siz stole a car from the parking lot and drove down to Forum, making a quick stop at his apartment to grab the key before trying Zelda’s apartment again. This time he only had to wait a moment before she opened the door and let him inside. There wasn't much furniture in her place besides her computer setup in a corner and a recliner facing the door. Siz borrowed her desk chair so she could have the recliner. 

“What's up Siz?” 

“Actually I have a lot to tell you, but first what have you been up to? It's been a while since we've seen each other.”

“Ok. I’ve just been working on some stuff with my brother, I've been taking pictures of things around the city for him.” 

“Oh cool, I tried to come by the other day to see you but you weren't here, I assume you were out doing that?”

“Yeah probably,” she paused for a moment, “What did you need to tell me?”

“Oh man so much has been going on lately. Like a week ago, I was talking to this VIP from the tavern, and he offered me a meth connect. I could tell he wasn't telling me everything though, so me and Saab decided to kidnap him and interrogate him for more information. We ended up killing him and on him he had a key to a meth lab and a brick of unfinished meth.” he pulled out the key to show her, “So for the past week weve been driving all over the city looking for the lab, the only clue is the key is marked ‘Optimus Prime’ so we basically have nothing.”

“A meth lab huh?” she said after a moment, “I don't think I’ve heard any word on the street about anything like that, but I’ll keep an ear open. I have a few pics of suspicious spots I’ve seen people hanging around recently if you want to look through those, see if any stick out, nothing really screams Optimus Prime to me though.”

“Yeah for sure, I’ll look through those in a minute. There is another thing though. Me and Saab agreed not to tell anyone about this operation, not even our own groups, y’know.”

“Ok I won't tell anyone.”

“Oh I know, but we needed a good cover story for why we’ve been hanging out together so much so we’ve been telling everyone we were going on dates.”

“Ok, that makes sense. That sounds like a pretty good cover story.” she paused again and turned to face Siz, “and y’know even if you were really going on dates with him, I wouldn't mind. I understand your and Saab’s relationship.” 

Siz looked away, after a second he reassured, “Ok well they are fake… but I’ll keep that in mind.”

Zelda smiled at Siz, she extended her fist towards him and he appreciatively bumped it. Siz and Zelda didn’t get to see each other that often because they were always busy with separate projects. But Siz always appreciated the time they were able to spend together and her perspective on problems. Zelda turned to collect her camera and cord to plug it into the computer and show him the pictures. He was embarrassed to see a shot of him and Saab from behind the tavern, but otherwise there was nothing particularly useful. 

-

Siz woke up to three missed calls from Saab. Worried it was something urgent, he called him back before he even fully woke up.

“Hey Siz are you finally awake?”

“...Yeah? ...What’s going on, why'd you call me so much?” Siz said groggily.

“I got a lead, I think it's the right one. Can we meet up to check it out?”

“Yeah yeah… just come pick me up at the apartments, I’ll be ready.”

“Ok I’ll see you in like 15 minutes ok?”

“Yeah sounds good.”

“I love you,” Saab said. 

“Yeah whatever,” Siz yawned and hung up the phone. Hearing that they potentially have a location for the lab perked Siz up a bit, but not more than coffee would so he hoped they would make a stop for some. He got dressed as quickly as he could and was downstairs within five minutes, just in time to see Saab parking, seemingly just as eager to check out the place as Siz. Siz got in the car and Saab started driving off.

“So what's up, what's your lead?” Siz yawned. 

“Right, so I was talking to my boys last night, and they mentioned another one of those weird shipping containers. I had them take me to see it and I really think this is it. There were red and blue containers nearby and a bunch of electrical transformers.”

“Ok sounds promising, I got the key, let's check it out.”

“Of course, I'm just stopping for coffee first since you seem pretty tired.”

“Perfect, thanks.” Siz said as Saab parked at the Rooster’s Rest. He was quick about retrieving the drinks, this time with no extras. Siz was very grateful for the caffeine. He quietly sipped his drink while Saab drove to the spot. It was not the best location, but Siz was glad to have hopefully found it sooner rather than later. 

-

The place was pretty much as Saab had described it. It was kind of open, but there were some cover spots. Worryingly, there were a few buildings nearby that people could get high ground from, but hopefully the spot wouldn’t be found out. There were some red and blue shipping containers nearby and a fenced area of electrical transformers that sort of hinted at Optimus Prime, Siz guessed, the clue was still pretty vague. Saab parked somewhat far away trying to limit drawing attention to the place. If Saab's boys had found it, there was always the chance other people knew about it. They approached the workbench and pushed it aside revealing a ladder. 

“Moment of truth,” Saab said. Siz sighed and began climbing down. He waited for Saab at the bottom and they walked to the door together. 

“Here goes nothing,” Siz tried the key. The door unlocked. Siz and Saab looked at each other for a moment before excitedly opening the door and hurrying inside, locking it behind just in case someone happened to go down there. 

The lab was huge, filled with complex machines they didn't know the beginning of what to do with. Lights and buttons and giant containers were all over the place, it was kind of overwhelming. 

“Yes we did it!” Saab yelled, but Siz wasn't listening. He had gone down the stairs to look at all the machines more closely, trying and failing to discern any of their functions. Saab hurried to follow Siz and they both marveled around the lab for a minute, stopping together at the back. 

“I can't believe we found it,” Siz said, still looking around. 

“I know me neither, but we did!” 

“How the fuck are we gonna figure out how to use any of these?” Siz laughed.

“That's a problem for later, for now I'm celebrating!”

Siz laughed and watched Saab do a victory lap around the lab, stopping in front of him again. They looked at each other for a moment. The jubilation of finding the lab had started to calm down and for a moment they just stood there. He thought about how the coffee Saab got him was always how he liked it. Siz thought about what Zelda had said. He thought about how much he’d enjoyed hanging out with Saab the last week. He thought about how glad he was that out of anyone he could've called in the moment to interrogate the VIP that he had called Saab. He noticed that he was closer to Saab than he remembered being before he started thinking. Siz looked up at Saab. Saab smiled and placed his hand on Siz’s cheek. They were both awkward for a moment before closing their eyes and leaning in for a quick kiss. Siz blushed and Saab laughed, leaning in to kiss him again more purposefully this time. There weren’t fireworks or anything, but it was nice. When they broke apart again, Siz looked up at Saab who looked like the cat who got the canary. 

“What was that for?” he asked cheekily.

“Shut up, I just… I’m glad I did this with you,” Siz said bashfully. 

Saab laughed and pinched Siz’s blushing cheek. “Well, would you like to go out with me for real sometime?”

“We probably should stick with that cover for anytime we're down here.” Siz paused and looked away, “but a real date sometime could be nice...” 

Saab beamed and used his hand on Siz's cheek to guide his face back for one last kiss.


End file.
